Safety device for elevators.



R. FREER 6L S. GRBER.. SAFETY DEVICE EOE ELEVATGRS.

APPLICATION FILED MAR.9. 1907.

Patented Dec. 29, 1914.

vnr, #einem PETA- Rs Cn.4 PHOTOYLITHO., WASHING/'0M u. L,

i 'EIT ROBERT EREER AND sEIvIUEI. GREER, 0E PRovIDENcE. RHODE ISLAND. AssIeNoRs To SAFETY ENGINEERING COMPANY, 0E PROVIDENCE, RHoDEIsLANnn coRPo- RATIONl 0E RHODE ISLAND.

SAFETY DEVICE FOR ELEVATORS.

Application led March 9, 1907. Sera1 No;36`l,570."

T0 all 1F72 om it may concern :4

l Be 1t known that we, ROBERT FREER and SAMUELGREER, both of Providence, county of Providence, and State of Rhode Island,

have invented certain new and useful` Improvements in Safety Devices for Elevators;

and we do hereby declare the following To that end the invention consists pri' marily in the combination, with the starting and stopping mechanism of the elevator, of a device adapted to operate said mechanism to shut ofi' the power whenever a door of the elevator-well is opened or is moved from its closed position, and adapted to be operated by said elevator-door in closing to turn on the power. I

The invention further consists in the combination, with the starting and stopping mechanism of the elevator, of a series of such devices each adapted to be operated by one of the doors of the elevator-well, and so that when any one of said doors is opened or partially opened the power will be shut off, and so that the closing of any door which has thus been opened or partially opened will serve to turn on the power.

The invention may be employed in connection with anv form of elevator operating mechanism, as for example, with a plunger elevator, or with a hydraulic elevator of the so-called vOtis type, or with an electric elevator.

In the accompanying drawings the invention is shown as employed in connection with a plunger-elevator.

In the case of such plunger-elevator the invention further involves the combination, with the main operating valve, of a cut-oaf valve adapted to out ofi1 the fluid-pressure. Such cut-o valve may, if desired, be located between the fluid-pressure supply and the main operating valve, and so as to cut olf the fluid-pressureon the supply side of saidzvalve.` 1t is preferred, however, to locate said cut-olf valve on the exit side `of the main operating valve, and between said operating valve andthe cylinder of the ele- -vator-plungeryand it is so" shown in the drawings. As 'said cut-off 'valve is necessarily of such a character as `to require con- Specification of Letters Iatent. Patentedecygg,

siderable power tooperate the same, it is desirable toI make use of thev fluid-pressure for thisA purpose, and to that end the inven-V tion further consists inl the combination, withsaid cut-off valve, and with't'he devices operated by the? doors of the elevator-well,

of a pilot-valve `or controllingfvalve, the

operation yof said controlling-valvebeing` controlled bythe doors ofthe elevatorwell; and said 'controlling-valve serving -in turn' to control the operation of the cut-olf valve'.`

The invention further consists in the combinations and arrangements of parts after described and claimed;- j"

elevation* showing the invention applied in connection with aplunger-elevator, and' with three doors for thek elevator-.well lo-f cated at a corresponding number of floors.` Fig. 2 is an elevation on an enlarged scale of the device adapted tobeoperated ,or controlled by the door 'of the ele'vatorjwell.v

Fig. 3 is a section on the'line of lFig. A2.

Fig. 4 is a plan View of the device showngin- Fig. Fig. 5 is a longitudinal section of the pilot-valve on anenlarged scale;

`Referring to Fig. l1, the cylinder for the elevator-plunger'is represented at l. 2 rep resents the. elevator-plunger, and 3 is` the car, which for convenience 1s shown simply said valve, and 7 the 'operating'cable, which extends up throughr the car, and by means. of which 'the main yvalve is operated froml the car, all of-these parts being of the .usual or any desired construction. Thecut-olf herein-` l l .y i Referring to the drawings, Figurel is an' valve 8 is located in`r the pipe 8a which leads from the main operating valvey 5 to thev cyl-y inder l. This cut-off valve may be of any suitable construction adapted to operate to cut off the Huid-pressure from the cylinder l, and thus to control the'operation of the elevator. shown in the drawings, said cut-oil valve 8 is adapted to be operated by {luid-pressure admitted through the pipes 9 and 10. rll`he pipe 9 connects with f any suitable Huid-pressure supply, and in trols .the three ports 9, 10a and 12a.

CII

the arrangement shown is connected with the lower end of the valve-casing of the valve 8, while the pipe 10 is connected with the upper end of said valve-casing. The valve 8 is a differential valve, and the iluidpressure entering the valve-casing through the pipe 9 acts constantly upon the smaller area or' said valve 8, and serves to hold said valve open at all times when the Huid-pressure through the pipe 10 is cut ofi". The {luid-pressure is intermittently admitted to the opposite end ot' the valve-casing through the pipe 10, and when so admitted acts upon the larger area of the valve 8, and so as to overcome the pressure admitted through the pipe 9 and acting upon the smaller area of said valve, and thereby move saidvalve to close the same and thus cut off the fluidpressure from the plunger-cylinder 1, even if the main operating valve 5 be open. The pipes 9 and 10 communicate with the valvecasing of the pilot-valve 11,I from which casing also extends the exhaust-pipe 12. The val ve-casing ot' said pilot-valve is provided with suitable ports 9a, 10a and 12 with which the pipes 9, 10 and 12 respectively communicate. Said pilot-valve comprises a valve-stem 11a which is reduced in diameter at two dierent places, so as to form the valve 11b and 11C, the valve 11b being the main controlling-valve which con- Thus with the valve 11b in one position communication is opened between the port 102L and the port 9a, and so that the fluid-pressure will i'low from the pipe 9 to the pipe 10 and thence to the upper end of the valve casing of the cut-olf valve 8, while with the valve 11b in its other position communication between the port 10a and the port 9 will be cut off and communication between the port 102L and the exhaust-port .12 will be opened, and so that the fluid-pressure may be released and exhausted from the upper end of the valve-casing of the cut-olij valve 8 through the pipe 10 and the exhaust-pipe 12. rIhe pilot-valve 11 is provided with a spring 18 which normally holds the valve 1la in a position to cut off the flow of the fluid-pressure from the pipe 9 to the pipe 10 and thus to cut oli'1 the fluid-pressure from the larger area of the valve 8. Said spring is permitted to so act only when all the doors of the elevator-well are closed, as will be hereinafter explained. Connected to the valvestem of the controlling-valve 11 is a cable or wire 1li which extends to the top ot the elevator-well and has its upper end secured to the ceiling or to some iixed part. Preferably a spring 15 is connected to the upper end of the cable 14, the principal purpose of Vsaid spring being to overcome or countercable 14 above the arm 18 of said lever is a 1 block 2O adapted to be engaged by said arm 18. The arm 21 of the lever' 17 extends somewhat beyond the jamb of the door, and so that the free end of said arm will be in a position to be engaged by the door of the elevator-well as said door is moved to its closed position. Preferably the free end of the arm 21 is rounded more or less as shown. The plate 16 is provided with a projecting boss which is tapped to receive a screw 23. Said screw 23 is made hollow to receive a coiled spring 2/1, as shown in F ig. 3. lnserted in the upper end of the hollow screw 28 is a plunger 25, the upper end of which is arranged to bear against the underside of the arm 18 of the lever 17. Preferably the arm 18 is provided with a conical recess 26, and the upper end of the plunger 2 5 is made more or less pointed to enter such recess. A pin or stud 27 projects from the plate 16 above the arm 18, and serves to limit the upward movement of said arm under the action of the spring 24. The tension of the spring 24 may be adjusted by turning the screw 28, and when the adjustment has been made, said screw 23 may be held in adjusted position by the set screw 28. ln the drawings a building of three stories is represented or indicated, and consequently three doors 29, 29a, 29b of the elevator-well are shown, the door 29 being shown as open and showing the opening 80 into the elevator-well, while the doors 29a and 29 are shown as closed.

The operation of the apparatus above described is as follows: Assuming all of the doors of the elevator-well to be closed, which may be regarded as the normal position. it will be understood that any one ot' the doors in closing comes into engagement with the overhanging end of the arm 21 of the lever 17, and that the inal closing movement o1- the door acts to depress the arm 18 of said lever against the action oit' the spring-pressed plunger 25 and its spring 24, and it will be lli( pressure through said valve, and ythus to cut off the fiuid-pressure from the larger area of the cut-olvalve 8, as hereinbefore explained. lilith the tluid-pressure thus cut ott from the larger area of the cut-off valve 8, the Huid-pressure entering the valve-casingof said valve through the pipe 9 and constantly acting upon the smaller area of said valve S will serve to move saidvalve to, and hold it in, a position to .open the passage through the pipe Sa. `With the valve 8 in this position, and with the pipe 8a open, the iuid-pressuremay flow from the supply-pipe 4 to the plunger-cylinder 1 whenever the main operating valve 5 is opened, or in other words, the car may at any time be started by a proper manipulation of the main operating valve 5, by means of the operating cable 7. If now any one of the doors of the elevator-well be opened or partially opened, so that said door is moved out of engagement with the arm 21 of the lever 17, this will serve to release the spring 24 and permit the spring-pressed plunger 25 to act upon the arm 18 ofsaid lever to raise said arm. T he raising of said arm 18 will, by its engagement with the block 20, cause an upward pull on the wire 14. Such movement of the wire 14 will operate to overcome the tension of the spring 13 and to move the pilot-valve or controlling-valve l1 so as to permit the passage of the Huid-pressure from the pipe 9 through said valve to the pipe l0, and thence to the casing of the cut-olf valve 8 to act upon the larger area of said valve. The fluidpressure thus acting upon the larger area of the valve 8 will overcome the pressure on the smaller area of said valve, and will thus serve to close said valve S and thus to close the passage through the pipe 8a. So long as the door of the elevator-well remains open or out of engagement with the arm 21, the cut-off valve will be held in its closed position and so that the fluid-pressure will be cut o5 from the plunger-cylinder,'and so that consequently the car cannot be started, even though the main operating valve 5 be opened. When, however, the door is closed, the engagement of the door with the arm 21 will serve to depress the arm 18, thereby removing the end of said arm out of engagement with its block 20, which will serve to permit the spring 13 ofthe pilot-valve 11 to act to close said valve, and so as to shut orf the Huid-pressure from the pipe 10 and from the larger area of the cut-off valve 8. The fluid-pressure, which is constantly acting upon the smaller area of said valve 8, will then operate to open said valve and so as to permit the starting of the elevator.

It will be seen that, with the construction above described, whenever any one of the doors of the elevator-well is moved from its closed position, the power for starting be thus automatically` cut off, and so that the car cannot be started, not only when any l one of 'the doors is opened or partially opened,.but also if any one of the doors is left unlatched. Thus if one of the doors be left unlatched. the weight of the door itself will not be sutlicient to overcome the force of the spring 24,which is a comparatively powerful spring, and the springpressed plunger 25, acting on the lever 17, will operate to raise the wire 14 to operate the controlling valve 1.1, as above described, the arm 21 of said lever at the same time serving to move back the door a sufiicient distance to permit the operation of said controlling valve.

While we have shown the invention as applied to a plunger-elevator, it will be understood that the invention may likewise be applied to other forms of elevators, as for example to a hydraulic elevator of the Otis type, or to an electric elevator. If the invention is to be applied to a hydraulic elevator of the character referred to, the pilotvalve l1 and the cut-olf valve 8 may be employed, as in the case of the plunger-elevator shown, said cut-off valve being then ernployed to cut ott' the Huid-pressure from the operating cylinder. If the invention is to be applied to an electric elevator, however, the pilot-valve 11 and cut-01T valve 8 may be dispensed with, and the wire'14 connected tol a secondary orl cut-off switch to be arranged in the operating electric circuit in addition to the main operating switch.

lVhile we have shown the cut-ottl valve 8 located between the main operating valve and the plunger-cylinder, it will be understood that said cut-oft' valve may, if desired, be located between the supply-pipe and the main operating valve. It will also be understood that the construction and arrangement of the parts may be varied without depart-` ing from the main features of the invention.

What we claim as our invention and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:`

1. A device for controlling acable comprising a lever, a spring-pressed plunger adapted to engage said lever, and a stop 'for limiting the movement of said lever under the action of said spring-pressed plunger.

2. A device for controlling a cable comprising a lever, a spring-pressed plunger adapted to engage said lever, an adjusting screw for adjusting the spring of said plunger, and a stop for limiting the movement of said lever under the action of said springpressed plunger.

3. A device for controlling a cable comprising a plate adapted to be secured to a door-Jamb, a lever pivoted on said plate, a .130

spring-pressed plunger mounted on Vsaid plate and adapted to engage said lever, an adjusting screw for adjusting the spring of such plunger, and a stop for limiting the movement of said lever under the action of said spring-pressed plunger.

4. The combination, with an elevator-car and a door, of a main controlling device for' controlling the operation of said car, a cutoff device for cutting off the power, a cable for controlling said cut-off device, a spring adapted to yfr'nove fsaid cablefin one direction, a ylever adapted to vmove said cable in the opposite direction, and a spring-pressed plunger adapted to `act on said lever, the action of Said spring-pressed ,plunger being 00ntrolledby said'door.

ROBERT FRER. SAMUEL GREER. Vltnesses:

vV. H. THURSTON, lJ. THURsToN.

Gopies of this patent may beobtaned for ve cents each, byaddress'ing the Commssionei` of Patents,

Washington, DfO. 

